From its conception in the second century up to the late Renaissance, this work determined astronomy as a science. During this time the "Almagest" was not only a work on astronomy; the subject was defined as what is described in the "Almagest". Ptolemy describes himself very clearly what he is attempting to do in writing the work see for example [ 15 ] :- We shall try to note down everything which we think we have discovered up to the present time; we shall do this as concisely as possible and in a manner which can be followed by those who have already made some progress in the field.
For the sake of completeness in our treatment we shall set out everything useful for the theory of the heavens in the proper order, but to avoid undue length we shall merely recount what has been adequately established by the ancients. However, those topics which have not been dealt with by our predecessors at all, or not as usefully as they might have been, will be discussed at length to the best of our ability.
Ptolemy first of all justifies his description of the universe based on the earth-centred system described by Aristotle. It is a view of the world based on a fixed earth around which the sphere of the fixed stars rotates every day, this carrying with it the spheres of the sun, moon, and planets.
Ptolemy used geometric models to predict the positions of the sun, moon, and planets, using combinations of circular motion known as epicycles. Having set up this model, Ptolemy then goes on to describe the mathematics which he needs in the rest of the work. Ptolemy devised new geometrical proofs and theorems.
References show. Biography in Encyclopaedia Britannica. D Russian 'Nauka' Moscow, Berlin-Heidelberg-New York, O Petersen, A survey of the Almagest Odense, G J Toomer trs. K Andersen, The central projection in one of Ptolemy's map constructions, Centaurus 30 2 , - J L Berggren, Ptolemy's maps of earth and the heavens : a new interpretation, Arch.
Exact Sci. J P Britton, Ptolemy's determination of the obliquity of the ecliptic, Centaurus 14 , 29 - B Chatterjee, Geometrical interpretation of the motion of the sun, moon and the five planets as found in the mathematical syntaxis of Ptolemy and in the Hindu astronomical works, J. Asiatic Soc. E Craig ed. Storia Sci. S Drake, Ptolemy, Galileo, and scientific method, Stud. Yu N Efremov and E D Pavlovskaya, Determination of the epoch of the star catalogue 'Almagest' by analyzing the proper motion of the stars on a problem of the authorship of Ptolemy's star catalogue Russian , Istor.
J Evans, On the function and the probable origin of Ptolemy's equant, Amer. J Evans, On the origin of the Ptolemaic star catalogue, J. Statistical analysis, Acta Appl. O Gingerich, Was Ptolemy a fraud? R P Lorch, Ptolemy and Maslama on the transformation of circles into circles in stereographic projection, Arch.
Y Maeyama, Ancient stellar observations : Timocharis, Aristyllus, Hipparchus, Ptolemy - the dates and accuracies, Centaurus 27 3 - 4 , - K P Moesgaard, In chase of an origin for the mean planetary motions in Ptolemy's 'Almagest', in From ancient omens to statistical mechanics, Acta Hist. Arabic Sci. A Murschel, The structure and function of Ptolemy's physical hypotheses of planetary motion, J. A Pannekoek, Ptolemy's precession, Vistas in Astronomy 1 , 60 - D Rawlins, Ancient heliocentrists, Ptolemy, and the equant, Amer.
For this reason Ptolemy is a controversial figure in the history of science. Robert Newton argues in his book The Crime of Claudius Ptolemy , that despite his skill as an astronomer, Ptolemy was simply an astronomical fraud. Newton says that Ptolemy simply fitted his measurements to his theories, rather than vice versa, often adapting observations made centuries before his time.
That assessment hardly endeared Newton to other historians of ancient science. One refutal by Owen Gingrich ruefully admits that The Syntaxis contains some fishy data, but he suggest that Ptolemy merely followed the practice of his time by selecting only those observations that supported his theory. People in Science.
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